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POLICE & COURTS

Thieves took 668 handicapped parking permits from the basement of Buffalo City Hall sometime between last June and Wednesday, the city engineer's office reported to Buffalo police.

The report filed with police Wednesday stated that the permits were stolen from a basement area at City Hall that was locked.

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>Jury selection starts today for Kopp trial

Jury selection begins in U.S. District Court today for James C. Kopp, the anti-abortion radical already convicted of second-degree murder in state court for the Oct. 23, 1998, murder of Dr. Barnett A. Slepian at his Amherst home.

Although Kopp stands convicted on the state charges, federal prosecutors say in court papers that he is technically eligible for parole after 25 years. The federal charges carry a mandatory life term.

Prosecutors allege that, by killing Slepian, Kopp violated federal laws against the use of force to injure a provider of reproductive services and the use of a firearm to commit a crime of violence.

Prospective jurors today are scheduled to receive written questionnaires from Judge Richard J. Arcara, asking how much pretrial publicity they have seen about the case, whether they can render a fair verdict and what their views are on abortion.

Kopp is representing himself, after jettisoning his attorney, Assistant Public Defender John Humann, over the direction of his defense. Arcara appointed Humann to serve as a stand-by counsel to advise Kopp on the law.

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>Arrest on Seventh St. follows police chase

A 14th Street man was arrested Wednesday on multiple charges after police said they observed him make a drug transaction on Seventh Street and then break into a house to change his clothes and appearance.

Angel Cruz, 34, is accused of discarding several envelopes of heroin while police were chasing him at about 11:30 a.m. He then kicked in the rear door of a home on the 400 block of Seventh Street and stole a man's clothes, police said. When the occupant came home, Cruz fled out the front door, where Central District Officer Monte Montalvo arrested him.

Cruz was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He also was wanted on an outstanding Buffalo warrant.

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>Depew man is accused of selling drugs in truck

A Depew man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly selling drugs out of his pickup truck, village police reported.

Jonathan Argentino, 33, is accused of selling narcotics from his truck after a police investigation of several weeks. Police were acting at the request of neighbors.

Early Wednesday, Argentino's truck was stopped on Broadway by police. Several grams of cocaine and marijuana were found inside, along with other drug paraphernalia, police said.

Argentino was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

He was taken to the Erie County Holding Center, with bail set at $1,500 cash.

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>Bailey Avenue man held in attempted murder

A Bailey Avenue man faces attempted murder charges following his arrest Wednesday afternoon in connection with shooting another man in the eye last July, Buffalo police reported.

Rickie R. Scott, 20, is accused of shooting Anthony Wills Jr., no age listed, of Dartmouth Avenue in the head with a handgun just before 8 p.m. on July 7 in the 1800 block of Genesee Street.

Wills suffered brain damage and lost sight in his right eye as the result of the shooting.